I looked around the horde of people in the airport, eyes scanning the crowd for a supposedly familiar face. I'd seen a few pictures of him here and there, but for the most part he remained a stranger. I found the man standing apart from the rest of the crowd and started walking over to him hesitantly, gripping the strap of my backpack tighter.

"Er- hi," I greeted when I arrived in front of him.

He looked startled to see me, his eyes scanning me from head to toe making me feel strangely exposed. I knew I was treating him similarly, so I couldn't really complain, but that didn't change the feeling of being inspected as my eyes roved up and down the man.

Chris Argent was a predictable man. He was around 5'11 with an athletic and muscular build. He had blue eyes that, mixed with the grey in it, seemed rather dull, and a scruff of a beard that hadn't been shaved in a while. He wore an average dad outfit, with a red chequered flannel covered by a green coat and plain blue jeans. Just as I'd expected.

He gave me what he seemed to hope to be a kind smile once he'd finished assessing me, holding out his hand for me to shake. "I'm Chris. Pleasure to meet you."

I hesitantly shook his hand, feeling the rough callouses on his skin as I did so. When I pulled my hand back I stared at him, wondering why Kate never introduced me to her brother. He seemed alright, in the way most uncles were supposed to. Plain, slightly boring, harmless. I didn't see why she had to hide me away, but it wasn't like I could ask her about it.

"So, the cars this way, if you'd follow me," Chris said.

I did as he asked, trailing behind him as he made his way through the people crowding the airport. When we got to car park it was a decent walk to where Chris had parked, one I was content to fill with silence, but one Chris seemed less inclined to.

"It's quite bizarre," Chris started saying as we walked over the cold concrete, the night's crisp air sending chills through me. I hugged my jacket closer to my body. "We never knew Kate had a child."

"Adopted child," I corrected. Chris looked down at me in confusion and I hurried to explain. "Kate's not my actual mum, just my legal guardian. She has been since I was a toddler though, so she was the person who raised me."

Chris made a quiet 'ah' sound, and we continued the walk in silence. When we finally arrived at his car, a red Chevy Tahoe, and to avoid further awkward conversation, I slid into the backseat, tossing my backpack onto the seat next to me.

The car started and Chris thankfully decided to stay quiet as he drove away from the airport. I looked out the car window, my thoughts straying to Kate. I often tried to avoid thinking about her, more so now than ever, but I never could quite escape her grasp on me, even in death.

She wasn't my mother. Kate was never and had never been a motherly figure. She hadn't even tried to be, which I was grateful for because living with her made it obvious she wasn't cut out to be one. I didn't hate her, but I didn't love her either, which made the event of her death difficult. I felt like I should be upset because she raised me, but there was no love lost between us and I'd never really made a connection with her that went deeper than her expectations for me.

You see, Kate had only taken me in because she had been close to my parents, and they had asked her to look after me if anything were to happen to them. So she did, but she didn't go about the ordinary way of parenting. Instead she turned me into a project of sorts, teaching me all these different skills like succeeding in parenthood was making sure your kid was smart. She never cared about me as a person; her only focus was on my achievements and success, like I was something she needed to fix.

My gaze darted to Chris when he cleared his throat, and I prepared myself for the awkward, stiff conversation awaiting me. I smiled to let him know I was listening, and he started speaking.

"So, the funeral is in four days time," Chris said hesitantly, looking at me from his rear-view mirror, as if trying to gauge my reaction. I kept my expression blank, something I had plenty of practise in having grown up with Kate as a guardian.

"Okay," I said impassively.

Chris cleared his throat and continued, eyes darting back to the road. "Because it's Wednesday today, you're welcome to spend Thursday and Friday at home to get comfortable, but after the funeral, which is on Monday, I think it would be best if you started to go to school. Which is Beacon Hills Highschool. It's a very good school; I think you'll enjoy it."

I nodded placidly, biting back the remark that he couldn't think I'd enjoy the school because he didn't even know me, instead giving him a tight smile.

"I'll start school tomorrow," I said. "I don't want to miss out on anymore classes than I need to."

Chris nodded and I let out a sigh, looking back at the window as I thought about the real reason I wanted to start school tomorrow. To stop thinking about her. To escape Kate, who had been plaguing my mind since she died. She didn't treat me how a mother should have, yes, but she still raised me, and when I was younger we did have some good memories together. I couldn't throw all those years in the bin just because I didn't have to see her again. They still haunted me, fresh in my mind like it all happened yesterday.

I closed my eyes and let myself get swallowed by a memory.

"Please tell me a story," I pleaded, grasping her wrist with my small, chubby six year old hand.

Kate looked down at me, an unreadable expression on her face, before she slowly let me tug her onto my bed where I had tucked myself in. I stared up at her in awe, a feeling my younger self often held for this fearsome woman who had taken me in when I had no one, who was so independent and strong and powerful. As I'd grown older those feelings faded away and were replaced with resent and grief, but for now I saw Kate as this wonderful woman, this angel sent from heaven to protect me and make me strong.

"Alright then," Kate sighed. "Once upon a time there was a girl. She was strong, smart, and most importantly, powerful. She knew how to fight, to protect her and her family from the monsters they hunted. Werewolves."

I let out a squeak and snuggled closer to Kate's side. She let it, only because her attention was partially taken by the story she was telling. She'd told me many stories about werewolves and hunters, and every time I always rooted for the hunters to defeat the scary beasts.

"One day, the girl strayed from her family's hunting group and ended up lost in the forest, but she wasn't scared. She knew exactly how to defeat the demons inhabiting the woods, and was eager to find one and kill it herself, and one she did find. It was big, with sharp teeth and even sharper claws. It stared down at the girl and smiled, thinking it had just found its dinner."

I stared at Kate, transfixed as she told the story. It ended like it always did, with the hunter winning and taking the werewolf's bloody head to her family, where they cheered her name and celebrated in her honour. I'd always found it mesmerising how she could come up with these stories on a whim, these stories that seemed so real but couldn't possibly exist. It enthralled me, and often I'd find myself begging for more tales. She rarely ever gave them unless she was in a funny mood.

Nevertheless I grew up on tales of werewolves, hunters, the occasional witch, and even when I saw Kate for who she truly was, I kept those stories close to my heart, because they were the only memories I had of Kate that could pass her as a mother.

I blinked, feeling disoriented as I was brought back to the present. I sighed, feeling overwhelmingly tired, just as Chris stopped the car. I looked out the window and found a beautiful house, with white pillars, a small veranda, and multiple windows decorating the house. It looked huge, at least twice the size of the house Kate and I used to live in.

I got out of the car, gripping my bag tightly as I stared up at the house I'd be living in from now on. The thought sounded so strange, because how could I live in a place this foreign, this different from the house I had lived in for majority of my life with Kate?

I followed Chris as he walked up to his house and opened the door that had been left unlocked. I entered the foyer and the first thing I saw was the staircase leading up to the second floor, which had a balcony that allowed it to look over the first floor. The second thing I noticed was the marble tiled floor that turned into carpet when you reached the living room.

It was nicely decorated, making me feel slightly less upset about living here. At least I'd be living in luxury. There were hurried footsteps from somewhere further in the house and then a woman appeared with a kind smile that was no doubt Victoria Argent.

She had short striking red hair and blue eyes, though hers were vibrant unlike her husbands. She was wearing a pearl necklace and a blue top covered by a black cardigan. Very mum-like clothes, not that I'd had much experience in that area, but still. It gave off mum vibes.

Followed by Victoria Argent was a girl around my age. She had curly dark brown locks that at first glance seemed black, but upon closer inspection was definitely brown. She had equally dark brown eyes, and pale skin that had no blemishes in sight. She was very pretty, intimidatingly so, and I tried not to think about the clothes I'd been wearing for over 24 hours or the make up on my face that was no doubt smudged after the six-hour flight.

I gave both of them a hesitant smile and they moved forward to introduce themselves. It went as good as it could have, with only minimal amounts of awkward silence scattered through the small talk. Eventually Victoria told Allison, the girl, to lead me to my room, and I did so with a fixed smile, feeling jealousy and confusion mar against one another inside me.

Kate never talked much about her family, but when she did it was usually always about her beautiful niece Allison, who had good grades, a perfect smile, and was the daughter she never had. So what was so special about her? Because as I looked at her, eyes scanning her from head to toe as she led me to my new room, I couldn't see what Kate saw in her. She was pretty, but seemed weak, and I wasn't sure she'd be able to fight off an attacker like I could or name every element on the periodic table in one sitting.

Even so, I knew Kate worked in mysterious ways, and from the way she acted I wasn't sure being liked by her was a compliment anyway. I stilled craved it, but I wasn't sure how much it meant, especially since Allison didn't seem half as strong as I was.

"My rooms right next door," Allison said as she opened the door to the room I'd be sleeping in for the next few years. I looked around; there wasn't anything in it beside a bed, an empty desk and bookshelf, and some boxes that were piled up against my wall.

They'd arrived here before I did, because I'd insisted having some extra time in my home town with my friends before I was whisked away to a strange place with even stranger people. I was grateful I'd made the decision too, because it meant I didn't have to wait for any of my stuff to arrive once I got here.

Allison stood in the doorway, watching me as I familiarised myself the room, before blurting out, "are you okay?"

I turned to look at her, surprised. "What?"

Allison gave me a sheepish smile. "I just meant, how are doing, with your mum dying and all...?"

I shrugged. "She's not my actual mum. My parents died in a car crash and she took me in because she was good friends with them."

The girl in front of me made an 'o' shape with her mouth before asking, "well, she still raised you didn't she? Surely that would hurt, to lose the person who raised you."

I shrugged again, unsure what else to do. "I guess. I mean, she was only my legal guardian, not family. She expected the best of me all the time, taught me all these weird skills you wouldn't normally learn. It was more of a teacher student relationship than anything."

"Oh, that sucks," Allison said.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, it did. It really brings into perspective what unconditional love means, because she only had conditional love for me, depending on how good I'd done in school, and even then the jury's still out on whether it was actually love or not." I winced. "Sorry, you probably don't want to know any of this."

"No, it's fine," Allison assured me. "What sort of things did she make you learn?"

I hummed, thinking. "Well there was combat, archery, fencing, and a weird boot camp sort of thing she made me go to every summer. It seems she was trying to make me into an assassin."

Allison's eyes widened as she stared at me. "Seriously?"

"Um... no? It was just a joke..." I said, trailing off in confusion.

Allison laughed slightly awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry, of course it was a joke. I'll just leave you to unpack."

I was sort of weirded out by her behaviour but decided to ignore it, because socialising with strangers often made people act weird.

Instead I focused on unpacking some of my boxes, starting with filling my bookcase and eventually moving onto my closet. I was interrupted by a knock on the door and found Victoria smiling at the doorway.

"Just making sure you're not hungry," she said. "We have leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry."

"Oh, no I'm fine thank you," I said. "I ate on the plane."

Victoria nodded and smiled. "Well then, you'd best get to bed soon. Big day tomorrow."

I agreed and followed her advice, neatening some things around before getting ready for bed. I turned the light off, enveloping myself in darkness, and made my way to my bed, cursing quietly when I stubbed my toe on something.

I got under the covers and sighed, feeling tiredness roll off me in waves. I was nervous about school tomorrow, but for now I let myself drift to sleep, ignoring all of the problems plaguing my mind.

A/N:

i hope you enjoyed the first chapter just us.

if you're a new reader, welcome! if you came here from one of my other stories, it's great to see you again.